The 2020 Election Shows How Organized Money Devoured American Democracy
This year’s election cycle was the most expensive in history — and, thanks to oligarch-friendly campaign finance laws, we don’t even know where much of it came from.
19149 Articles by: Jonathan Sas
Jonathan Sas has worked in senior policy and political roles in government, think tanks, and the labor movement. He is an honorary witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. His writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, National Post, the Tyee, and Maisonneuve.
We Need Five Days’ Pay for Four Days’ Work
Working time reduction has always been used as a way of distributing available work and reducing unemployment. In our era of crisis, we need to fight for a four-day week.
With Biden in the White House, Will the American Media Go Back to Brunch?
Much of the American mainstream media adopted a highly combative, watchdog approach to covering the Trump White House. Will the media abandon that approach under a President Joe Biden?
La Pasionaria, Spanish Anti-Fascism’s Greatest Orator, Remained Defiant in Exile
During Spain’s Civil War, Dolores Ibárruri was famed worldwide as La Pasionaria, the brilliant orator who stirred anti-fascists’ souls. Fleeing to Moscow in 1939, she soon became the exiled Communists’ leader — both political guide for a defeated party and a “Spanish mother” confronting the expectations of her male comrades.
The Establishment Is Gearing Up Against Even a Public Option
Tax records we’ve reviewed show a health care industry front group run by a former Hillary Clinton aide has already amassed millions to block a public health insurance option. Even small reform isn’t possible without confronting powerful interests.
La Pasionaria, Heroine of the Spanish Civil War
Born 125 years ago today, communist leader Dolores Ibárruri was the most famous symbol of the Republican cause in Spain. Known as “La Pasionaria,” she coined the battle cry “¡No pasarán!” — expressing the fearlessness which made her a heroine for generations of anti-fascists.
New York’s Building Trades Unions Are Showing the Way Forward on Green Jobs
We can’t win and carry out a Green New Deal without winning building trades workers and unions to an environmentalist agenda that also benefits them. New York’s recently announced massive investment in offshore wind, high-speed rail, and more, backed by both labor and environmental groups, shows how it can be done.
Peru’s Neoliberal Success Story Is in Meltdown
An undemocratic power grab by hard-right politicians in Peru was defeated by popular mobilization on the streets. The Peruvian political crisis has deep roots in a failed model of technocratic, neoliberal governance that has turned the state into a plaything of private interests.
Spotify’s Streaming Model Is Based on Exploitation
Earlier this year, Spotify announced it would give artists and record labels a boost in promotion if they accepted a lower royalty rate — rates that are already abysmally low. Between fights over compensating artists and the unionization of podcast company workers, it’s clear that even the world of digital streaming has class conflict at its heart.
Joe Biden’s Cabinet Is on Loan From Corporate America
As Joe Biden staffs his incoming administration, battle lines have been drawn between progressives and centrists. But the real winner has been corporate America, whose lobbyists and consultants have been getting the bulk of the plum jobs.
Rediscovering Vkhutemas, the Soviet Union’s Revolutionary Art School
Sometimes referred to as the “Soviet Bauhaus,” Vkhutemas featured a radical experiment in student democracy and design that went even further than its German counterpart.
Bankers Are Enriching Shareholders – And Putting the Global Economy at Risk
As economic trouble mounts, Trump officials are letting Wall Street banks pay out billions in dividends to shareholders. Bankers are taking self-serving risks with the world economy, because they know that if anything goes wrong, they’ll be bailed out.
John Lennon and the Politics of the New Left
Forty years after his murder in New York City, we remember John Lennon’s record of political engagement as a champion of the anti-war movement and a self-styled “instinctive socialist” — which brought him into conflict with Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover.
Israel’s Honeymoon With the United Arab Emirates Is Grotesque
Since normalizing relations in September, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have teamed up to do what both do best: trample on democratic freedoms, commit atrocities, and whitewash occupation.
The Donald, According to David Roth
Writer David Roth has been the preeminent chronicler of Donald Trump’s presidency. In an interview with Jacobin, Roth talks about four hallucinatory years and what makes the deranged president at the center of them tick.
The Left and the Climate Crisis After the Pandemic
In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, many hoped it would contain an inadvertent silver lining, in the form of reduced carbon emissions. But the real lesson of the past few months is now clear: we can’t stop global warming without radical systemic change.
Janos Marton: The Criminal Justice System in New York City Is “Rotten”
Janos Marton says that the Manhattan district attorney’s office is “extremely punitive when prosecuting low-income communities of color and pretty weak when prosecuting the rich and powerful.” He says, in an interview with Jacobin, that he is running for DA to change that, aiming to reduce the number of people in jail, stop drug prosecutions, and go after bad bosses who steal workers’ wages.
The End of Public Schools Would Mean the End of the Common Good
If education is nothing but a provider of the “human capital” that will help students get a job, the argument to privatize public education will be far too convincing. Instead, we should look at our schools as institutions to educate kids to be citizens in a democracy with expectations for better lives.
Who Will Xavier Becerra Serve as Joe Biden’s HHS Secretary?
Xavier Becerra advocated Medicare for All and tough action against Big Pharma. Too bad the incoming Biden administration he’s set to be a part of as Health and Human Services head has refused to take on the health insurance industry.
Hillbilly Elegy: Bad Politics, Even Worse Cinema
The only good thing we have to say about the reactionary film adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy is that it’s so boringly told you’ll forget about it in an hour.